The Child of Darkness
by the core of justice
Summary: Fleeing the Jedi Order, two former Jedi padawans try to survive a war-torn galaxy. But both are haunted by their pasts, and filled with dread of confronting the dark side- and it's wielders. Can they find peace in each other, or only drive themselves apart? this is written by /u/6037692/ Ezra while also be a main character
1. Chapter 1

The pub didn't offer much except a searing tonic that seared her throat, but she drunk it down anyways. There was, after all, nothing better to do except wait for work.

Work. Her shoulders slumped with the thought. From working with Jedi, the most powerful people in the galaxy, to seeking employment with a smuggler's gang on Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon. It was as steep a decline as it could get.

Her blue and white head tails rolled down her shoulders and she shrugged them off. Such thoughts could not disturb her now, when she least needed it.

"Hey, miss. Fancy somethin' else to drink?"

She had sensed his approach but had hoped her aloof manner would detract him. She was wrong. "No, I'm alright, thanks."

"Well, don't accept me all at once!" He smelled as rotten as the bar- or rather, the whole planet. She slipped into his mind with ease, saw his intentions, and she recoiled.

"Think I'm alright, thanks. I'm just looking for work."

"Work? Well, how about a quick buck here?"

She laughed artificially. "Not that sort of work. Now get out of here."

"Hey." He grabbed her forcefully by the shoulder. "I'm talking to you- wha?"

"You don't want to be here right now," she said firmly, her other hand waving in front of his face.

"I... don't want to be here right now."

"You want to go back to your ship and fly off planet."

"I... want to go to my ship and get offplanet." He sauntered off with a spring in his step as if the conversation hadn't happened, and she exhaled, turned back to her drink. She checked the chrono that was stuck to the grimy pub wall. Thirty minutes remained.

She groaned. She hated waiting, just as much as her former master, Anikan Skywalker. She slapped a hand on the pub desk to get the Gran bartender's attention. "Another one, if you wouldn't mind."

The three-eyed being looked her up and down. "Look a little young to be drinking here, girl."

Ahsoka Tano laughed openly. "I think I'm a little young to even be on this moon. How about you cut the morals and serve me?"

XXX

"What's your name, kid?"

"Ashla," she said with no hesitation. The way she saw it, there was a tiny chance that anyone on this backwater moon would know her actual name, but down the line, someone might. She would forge a new identity, here and now. "You're Captain Hoffner, I take it?"

"That'd be me," the other said affably, flipping a credit chit in his hand. He looked down at her with sharp, thorough eyes; she could see reserved intelligence within them. She looked back with a blank look.

His gaze relaxed. "That's me, yes," he grunted. "Well, Ashla, 'fraid you came a little too late."

"Late?" she echoed. "Your navigator told me a hour-"

He snorted. "And? We're smugglers, not clones. Timekeeping is just chicken scratch."

She opened her mouth- and stopped. The look was back in his eyes. "Is that right?" she countered slowly. "Sorry, but way I remember it, in gambling time is everything, isn't it? And gambling is just like a small smuggling trip."

Hoffner smirked, turned to look behind him. "Karrde? What were you doin' telling this little lady all about me? I thought you only told her to come in an hour."

"You have gambler's eyes," she said before the navigator could respond. "Sharp and observant. Like me," she added with a flashy smile.

"True enough," Hoffner grunted. "You pass the test; get on board. Get acquainted with the other mechanic; you both will be on engine maintenance."

"Understood, Captain." She walked up the ramp into the ship; Hoffner's eyes wafted around the landing pad, hand on his blaster, before finally entering the ship.

XXX

"What's your name?" He was a human, young and short-haired. Black hair was matted down to his head and his face was covered in grime, but his bright green eyes shined inquisitively at her.

"Ashla," she said shortly, and turned to knock one of the ion coils back into place. She was, after all, here to make money not friends.

"My names Asger. Do you... uh, need a hand?"

"No, I got it." She tapped the loose coil experimentally; Hoffner had warned her before coming down that the ship was old, and to be careful with the mechanics. She wondered briefly if her former Master would have had any tips for her; he was a fantastic pilot, after all. But she immediately shrugged it away; that was no longer her life.

There was a series of low-pitched beeps; the squad black-and-red astromech droid Asger called R3-46. "Arty's right," the mechanic said with mock professionalism. "You won't fix it like that. Here-"

"I got it- there, see?" She showed him the coil, knocked back into place where it hummed smoothly.

"You're good," he said with admiration. "Been a while since someone who knows what their doing came around here. The last one got shot up in a botched landing on Trandosha; those reptilians really don't like outsiders."

"Mhmm." She sat down on one of the tool benches and stretched. Asger came over, and as he did so she saw something peculiar. "What's that?"

His hand came almost casually to put the cylindrical device out of sight. "Just an old memento from my... family," he said. "Nothing really important. But hey, I'm the one asking the questions, right? Why are you here?"

She shrugged. "Why not? Fast, action-packed life while making money."

"Not to mention dangerous; the Republic and Separatists really like making life hard for us. Arty bounced on his two roller-legs; by his tone she could only imagine the sarcastic qualities he probably shared with Artoo back with her former Master. "Yeah, Arty, those vulture droids really did a number on us back at Christopholis. It's a risky business-"

"I can manage." She looked around his work station. Everything was haphazardly organized; tools and spare parts were shunted into a corner. A Republic propaganda poster was taped above his bed, except it had been modified to have the clone trooper's heads had been painted over to give a much more artistic design.

"Yeah, I did those," he said, following her gaze. "Beats the bland white armor, huh?"

"I guess." Carefully, she tried to ease into the other's mind; to her great surprise, she found a well-organized mental barrier in place.

His left eye twitched, but nothing more. "Where do you come from?"

She eased out, swallowing her strained breath. "I'm... I left my home behind. Things... weren't working out for me." She was feeling more comfortable around him, at least. He seemed to radiate warmth despite his closed thoughts; for the moment, it wouldn't hurt to tell him the truth while really not.

Strangely enough, his eyes seemed to grow gaunt. "Yeah... that's not too distant from myself," he said slowly, sitting on his bunk. "Except instead of me rejecting my family, they rejected me." His hands clenched on his lap. "So I left them. Bet they regret that now."

The warmth in the room seemed to disappear, and she shivered. Before she could comment, however, the hatch above them opened. "Well just look at you two lovebirds," Hoffner chortled. "Come on up; we got chow for both of you, the engine's can go without a nanny for a bit."

"Coming, Captain."

XXX

The food wasn't anything special and certainly wasn't the tastiest thing she'd ever had, but the way she figured this would be a common meal from now on. Get used to it now, she thought with some disgust.

"Here's what we're doing," Hoffner said, belching. The crew sat back in their seats; there were fourteen of them altogether. The navigator whom she had spoken with back on Nar Shaddaa gave her a friendly nod, the others either scowled or ignored her presence.

"We're going to break into a Separatist-held planet called Hypori and pick up some weapons for some sort of rebellion going on at a different planet- I'll give that later. All in all, a quick pickup. In and out, eas

The food wasn't anything special and certainly wasn't the tastiest thing she'd ever had, but the way she figured this would be a common meal from now on. Get used to it now, she thought with some disgust.

"Here's what we're doing," Hoffner said, belching. The crew sat back in their seats; there were fourteen of them altogether. The navigator whom she had spoken with back on Nar Shaddaa gave her a friendly nod, the others either scowled or ignored her presence.

"We're going to break into a Separatist-held planet called Hypori and pick up some weapons for some sort of rebellion going on at a different planet- I'll give that later. All in all, a quick pickup. In and out, easily."

"Hypori? The Republic only recently made an attack there, the Separatists are going to have some heavy patrol craft running around."

"Yeah, the Aggressor has been reported running around there," another crew member said worriedly. "For a Carrack-class cruiser, it's gotten one of the highest kill-counts in the war-"

"Stop your worrying!" Hoffner said angrily as the other crew members grew sober. "We went up against a Republic Venator before and we were fine!"

Asger snorted on her left. "Fine? I spent the next week patching up the left engine thruster! Not to mention that was when we lost the original mechanics!"

"Yeah, you sure got lucky there," the Captain snorted. "Hell, you've been lucky everytime. Let's hope little Ashla gets some of it, cus Palpatine-knows when we'll get the money to hire another."

The crew dispersed back to their stations, and Ahsoka followed Asger back down to the engine room. He quietly helped put together her sleeping bunk, then crawled into his own. The droid Arty struck the lights with a farewell warble, then powered down for the night.

"I know you said you're just here for the money and stuff," the boy said into the darkness. "But I hope you stay make it out of this smuggling run alright."

She found that odd of him to say. "Why?" she wondered aloud. "Think I'm going to end up like the past mechanics?"

"Yeah." He said it with such seriousness she sat up in the darkness and looked in the direction of his bunk. She could see his green irises staring straight up and the ceiling.

"Why so certain?"

"Just a... feeling I have. Try not to worry about it," he added hastily. "I always get nervous on operations like this. Just try and catch some sleep, we'll probably get there in the morning."

"Yeah," she said sarcastically. "I'll try." She rolled over in her sleep, but her dreams were filled with nightmares of the past and dread of the future.


	2. Chapter 2

"We're coming out of hyperspace over Hypori in ten minutes."

"Good, Karrde. Give me another warning when we're a minute out."

The navigator nodded, went back to his console. Captain Hoffner turned to the assembled crew. "Here's the deal. We're meeting with the contact on the planet surface. Xello, Boris, you'll come with me as backup. Donnelson, guard the ramp. Clive, Chaer, and Forrester, don't go to your stations, take the guns in case we need to shoot our way out. Everyone else, be on your regular stations." The Captain paused, his fingers playing with the same credit chit Ahsoka had seen during her attempt to join the crew. "This is a big operation for us all, you know that. No slip-ups at all. Got it?"

"The Captain's been pretty restless, lately," Asger explained as the crew dispersed to their assigned posts. "He had to give some Hutt a massive payout, but he didn't have the money because he gambled it all out the day before. This is his big chance to make it all up."

"So he's normally more cheerful?" Ahsoka inquired dryly.

Asger shrugged, smiling. "Sometimes. Here, let's see if we can get the flux capacitors up to full capacity. They like to weaken during standby mode.

They went to work, the red and black astromech droid fetching them tools and spare parts here and there. She watched him closely as he worked; he was dedicated to what he did, his face lined with perfected concentration and his hands molding the pieces with concerned skill.

With a painful pang, she realized it was almost the same dedication Anikan had always had. Even the anger was there; she could sense it, faintly, despite the warmth he radiated. Tightly controlled, rarely breaking through the surface. Asger had it bottled up nice and tight.

And that was fine, perfectly fine. She could tell who he was now. A Force-sensitive, and at that, somewhat trained in the Force. It was curious to her, how she had abandoned the Jedi Order only to find another Force wielder. The Force works in mysterious ways, she remembered, the old proverb ringing through her head.

But there would be a time for that later. She needed the money this operation would carry out. "Here, let me try," she said, gently nudging him out of the way.

"Knock yourself out," he wheezed, his muscles clenching and unclenching with the previous effort. She twisted on the knob that would tighten down the capacitor, but it was firmly stuck in place. She applied more effort, but still it refused to budge.

Arty warbled something, and Asger nodded. "Worth a try," he affirmed. "Here-"

"What are you doing?" she demanded suddenly.

His face reddened. "Well, I- Arty, thinks- two are stronger than one, you know?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine." She felt him come behind her and his body press a little against hers, and his arms came across hers to grab the power wrench. They both pulled with all their might-

And with a satisfying clunk, the capacitor twisted down. "Phew," he said, immediately backing away from her. "Been trying to get that in place for months. Good thinking Arty." The droid gave a smug whistling.

"Oi, you two!" They looked up, saw one of the cremmen looking down. "Hyperspace dropout in one minute, Captain wants everyone to be ready."

"We are," Asger assured. "Tell him we got the flux capacitor in place, as well. He'll like that."

The crewman nodded, left them.

The crewman nodded, left them.

"Our job isn't going to be anything special," Asger said nonchalantly, the red from his face vanished as he sat down on his tool bench. "I just stay down here and make sure nothing blows up."

"Sounds boring."

He shrugged, grinned at her. "Not that action-packed life you were going after, sorry."

She frowned. In the back of her mind, something was wrong. She tried to determine what it was... but she had never learned how...

Asger suddenly grew tense. "Wait-"

With a stomach-churning movement, the smuggler vessel exited hyperspace-

And was almost instantly slapped to the side by a turbolaser bolt.

"Evasive!" That was Hoffner, yelling from the bridge. Another turbolaser bolt struck home., jolting the ship. Ahoksa stumbled, trying to get a grip on anything. The astromech droid went screeching as the second wild hit sent him rolling across the floor, where he smashed into one of Asger's tool boxes.

"Come on!" he called to her. He was stumbling as well, but towards the ladder. He got a grip on it, and with his other hand held it open to her.

The ship made a sharp turn as the high whine of another laser bolt sizzled right past the engines. Ahsoka tripped over her power-wrench, went flailing-

Asger got her by the arm. "Grab onto me!" he shouted. "Arty, lock yourself into position- don't let anything blow up!"

The droid gave a furious raspberry at the sarcasm, but they were already climbing the ladder out.

The ship rocked with another hit, but this time the floor beneath them vibrated as the ship's gunner's returned fire. She heard a triumphant cry from one of the pods, but didn't let it stop her. Asger led the way to the ship's bridge, a compacted, oval container where Hoffner shouted orders to the three men working there.

"Captain," Asger called to him. "What's going on?"

"We've been double crossed," Hoffner snarled, looking at his personal tactical display. "It's the Carrack-cruiser that's been sulking around the system- the Aggressor. Our contact got found out and leaked the operation to the blasted droids."

"Unidentified ship," a robotic voice came over the comm. "You will power down your engines and surrender, or face disintegration."

"The gates of Morriban we will- Flaze give us full rear-deflector and engine power!"

"This isn't a snubfighter," the Diamalian crewmember said with maddening calmness. "We can't outmaneuver a ship with that much firepower."

"Karrde?!"

"I'm plotting a course as fast as I can-"

The ship groaned with another double impact. "Shields down to 40%!" the other third crewer said testily. "Another salvo and they'll breach the engines- or worse."

"KARRDE!"

The navigators calm demeanor shattered. "THE CHARTS AREN'T SET!"

"BLAST IT, HURRY WITH IT!"

A green turbolaser blast ran past the cockpit. Hoffner's eyes darted madly to the tactical station-

"I GOT IT, I GOT IT! SHORT HYPERSPACE JUMP- NOW!" The starlines turned into long, white streaks, that suddenly became a familiar, tunneling blew. They had escaped.

Ahsoka found herself releasing a breath she hadn't known she'd held. She turned to Asger, who gave her a weak smile. "Well, how's that for action?"

"Not the kind I was looking for," she admitted heavily. There were some footsteps behind them; some of the other crewmembers were coming in, demanding an explanation.

Hoffner's tomato face was beginning to calm down. He waved off the demands, turned towards his pilotx. "Karrde, where did you jump us to?"

"A parsec away," the navigator said testily. "Not sure what direction- or where we're going."

One of the other crewers snorted. "Anything's better than back there with that cruiser."

The starlines faded-

Two dark, massive shapes filled the bridge window. Hoffner made a sound between a scream and a gurgle.

"Two dreadnoughts directly ahead," the Diamalian said, the calmness somewhat diminished.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" Hoffner shouted. "GUNNERS, COVERING FIRE!"

"The dreadnoughts are doing a sensor scan," Karrde said tensely, if a little confused. "No weapons powering, or comm active-"

"BLAST IT, CHART A COURSE!"

Ahsoka felt with the Force, to the other ships. if she could buy them a little time, to mess with the other crewmen's heads-

Asger turned to look at her, his forehead creased. "Huh-?"

"KARRDE!" The navigator's fingers danced across his console, but it wasn't fast enough to satisfy the Captain.

"Wait-" Asger cried, but Hoffner threw him off. Ahsoka saw him take off a thin metal plating on his control board, where a large red switch was. The gambling captain's sweaty hand fumbled, then switched it on.

The two dreadnoughts in front of them suddenly grew long and distorted, as did the stars all around them. They were going into hyperspace, too quickly-

Everyone was thrown to the floor. Asger was the first to pick himself up. "What have you done?!"

"I removed the safeties from the hyperdrive," the Captain breathed. "Forced an emergency jump into hyperspace; we'll keep going until I pull us out, so we can't run into any more blasted ships."

"Are you mad?" the navigator said angrily. "Yes, we are going to run into something, or something into us!" We're blindly careening through hyperspace right now, with the hyper-sensor offline-"

"Would you have rathered stayed to tangle with those dreadnoughts," Hoffner countered heatedly. Some of the other crewers gave sounds of agreement.

Ahsoka, however, knew better. The stories of old, where commanders had tried to shave off time by plowing through unknown hyperlane routes had often ended in tragedy. Even singular ships we're suspect.

"We should pull out of hyperspace, now," she said firmly. "We're far away from Hypori, we'll be fine-"

"We're not fine until I say so," Hoffner said curtly. "Besides, what's life without a little gamble-?"

The rest of his comment was cut off as the roar of ripping metal filled with the cockpit, and Ahsoka's vision went red, and then black.


	3. Chapter 3

Ashla... Ashla!... come on, wake up, please..."

Groggily, Ahsoka felt her head being rolled from side to side. Her eyes blearily opened, and no shapes made sense. The voice she could hear, but somehow couldn't. Her mouth tried to form words, but they came out slurred and incomprehensible.

A low-pitched warning alarm beeped periodically.

"Ashla?... Ashla, say something again! Hello?!"

"I'm... where..."

Asger's face swam into precision. A nasty red burn scorched the left side of his face, and the entire left side of his mechanic suit was charred and blackened. His face, however, was full of blossoming relief. "Thank the stars. I thought... for a minute there... well, I'd lost you. She's alright!" he called to someone she couldn't see. "Get her one of the med kits!"

A different form came above her, a white box in his hands. The navigator. He seemed relatively unharmed, at least to her.

"You're going to be alright," he said soothingly.

"Wha...what happened?"

Asger and Karrde looked at each other with dark looks. "Hoffner's removal of the hyperdrive's safeties took us right into the tail of a comet going through the system. The engines are mostly intact, but the fuel cells ruptured. We're trying to fix them right now so we can get moving."

A small pain pricked her wrist, and she flinched. "Relax, it's shock reliever," Karrde said. "You'll be able to get on your feet in twenty minutes or so. Just take it easy."

But she had no time to take it easy. She took a deep breath and allowed the Force to run through her. The pain left her body, the lightheadedness vanished. Her eyes took in the rest of the hallway more clearly. With a grunt, she sat up.

Karrde looked at her with surprise. "I said take it easy, not get ready for round two," he reprimanded her. "Relax-"

"I'm fine," she said clearly. "Just give me a hand, will you."

Asger looked at her, tight-lipped, then extended a hand. She grasped it and he pulled her to his feet. "Anything I can help with?" she asked.

Karrde looked at her with wonder a moment longer, then shook his head. "Unless you know anything about healing. We lost five members in the collision, and we got six more injured. I've done what I can, but I've just never seen damage on this scale before."

Ahsoka considered him. "For a smuggler, you seem a lot warmer compared to others."

"Because I'm an outlaw I should lose my humanity?" the other countered. "I prefer to thank more positively, thanks." He put the white package in her hand. "I have the other in the cockpit; go to the gunner pods; they got singed pretty badly."

She nodded, and he went deeper into the ship. Asger stood motionless, avoiding her eyes. "Coming?" she asked. His head twitched in what she guessed was a nod. "Come on."

XXX

The pods were a shattered mess. Emergency vacuum-shutters blotted out the stars. Red emergency lights bathed the bodies in a bloody glow.

Besides the blood that already covered them.

Two of the three were dead, and the last she could already tell wasn't going to make it. Apiece of the control station had been exploded into his chest, but for some reason he was still conscious. He was a Gotal, and he bleated with terror.

The Clone Wars had shown her a lot of violence. Clones ripped to pieces before her, singular rebel groups killed doing what they believed. Gore was nothing knew to her; she did what he could with the small medical pack, but in the end the other was simply beyond her help.

A lump formed in her throat. She had not known the smuggler, but pain was pain. She put a hand on his forehead, and used the Force to make his mind warm and fuzzy. The Gotal's bleats became less distressed, and more drowsy, until he slipped into a painless unconsciousness.

"You're a Jedi." It came out not as a question, but a statement. She turned; Asger leaned against the bulkhead, his left hand out of sight in his charred suit.

"I was," she said after a moment. "Like you were, I'm guessing."

"What makes you think that?" he snapped.

She smiled. "The fact that besides you're a terrible liar, I know a lightsaber when I see one."

He blinked, and then his gaze hardened. The usual warmth radiating from him was gone, leaving that bone-chilling presence instead. This time, however, she didn't allow it to affect her. She stood up and faced him, even took a step forward. His hidden hand flashed out, silvery hilt of the lightsaber in his hand. "I won't let you take me back," he said with fiery determination. "You hear me? I'm not going back."

"I didn't come here to take you back to the Jedi Order," Ahsoka said calmly. "I ran away from it myself, only a few weeks ago."

"You think I'm an idiot?" The room, if possible, got even colder. The red warning lights seemed to dim; it was as if he was sucking life itself out the room. Behind her, the Gotal's breath gave a deathly rattle, then stopped.

"I'm telling the truth."

"You LIE!" The lightsaber VMMMMMed to life, and she found herself taking an involuntary step back. The blade was a brilliant purple, something she had only seen with Master Windu. Purple crystal's were incredibly rare, she knew.

She recovered herself, used the Force to calm her. "Where did you get a saber like that?" she questioned.

"I stole it," he goaded. "Stole it from the Temple's artifact room. They had the gal to rob me of being a padawan, so I robbed them back!"

"Why did they reject you for being a padawan?"

His gaze narrowed. "What's it matter to you? You already know, don't you? They sent you here to bring me back!"

It was her turn to look menacing. She took two steps towards him, and he flinched away, flattening against the bulkhead. As if remembering he had the weapons till, he angled it towards her. His face illuminated in the dark purple glow, she could see the spasms of fear crossing it.

"I'll say it again; I'm not with the Jedi Order anymore. I left it, like you, although I was already someone's padawan when I left." She paused, thinking. "My only guess is that for some reason, the Force has drawn us together."

"Yeah? Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I know I consciously came onto this ship with the intention of abandoning my past life, to make something new for myself. I didn't think I'd ever meet another Jedi, let alone a Force sensitive."

He snorted. "I am no Jedi." But all the same, he closed down the lightsaber and reattached to his belt, out of sight. He folded his arms and looked at her with his piercing green eyes. She looked back but said nothing. Slowly, warmth creeped back into the gunner pod.

"So what now?" he asked into the silence. The ship vibrated beneath their feet, and then made a sputtering sound. The red lights vanished and were replaced by the dim normal ones.

"Sounds like they fixed the ship," she said. "But I'm not staying here. I have some leftover credits; I'll get a ride somewhere and maybe start a solo career." She shook her head. "Force or not; I can tell you don't want to have anything to do with the Order anymore."

He gave an awkward nod. "Let's go to the bridge and see what's happening."

They walked back in. R3-46 met them in the main hallway, burbling with thinly veiled anger. Asger patted him on the dome. "Yeah, glad to hear you made it, too."

Her thoughts again traveled to Anikan, looking at her with pain and loss as she walked away from him and the Temple. "I didn't think I'd ever meet another Jedi, let alone a Force sensitive," she murmured.

He snorted. "I am no Jedi." But all the same, he closed down the lightsaber and reattached to his belt, out of sight. He folded his arms and looked at her with his piercing green eyes. She looked back but said nothing. Slowly, warmth creeped back into the gunner pod.

"So what now?" he asked into the silence. The ship vibrated beneath their feet, and then made a sputtering sound. The red lights vanished and were replaced by the dim normal ones.

"Sounds like they fixed the ship," she said. "But I'm not staying here. I have some leftover credits; I'll get a ride somewhere and maybe start a solo career." She shook her head. "Force or not; I can tell you don't want to have anything to do with the Order anymore."

He gave an awkward nod. "Let's go to the bridge and see what's happening."

They walked back in. R3-46 met them in the main hallway, burbling with thinly veiled anger. Asger patted him on the dome. "Yeah, glad to hear you made it, too."

XXX

There were six of them left by the time they limped back into civilization.

Six. Of fourteen. She shook her head. The Force was certainly with her, still.

Hoffner came back with the advance payment he had been contracted with; little enough. Ahsoka knew better to complain; she could see the gambling Captain was absolutely furious. His ship was a total loss; he would be able to sell it, she reasoned, for a sizable scrapping price. But it would never fly again, not without being totally refitted.

The estranged Captain stood before them on the ramp. "It's certainly been a good run," he said, his voice ragged. "But this old bird isn't going into space again. Best find some job elsewhere. The black market here isn't that good, but you'll probably find something.

Two of the survivors left without another word, obviously eager to get back into the business as quickly as they could. Karrde mumbled something about fetching his things, and Ahsoka followed suit. Her spare money, enough to buy her passage to any Outer Rim planet, was all there was besides some spare clothes.

"Look." She didn't turn; she had sensed his approach. Asger fumbled for words. "I know... uh, we've had sort of a rough start-"

"I don't really like lightsaber's pointed at me, no."

"-and that you want to do a solo career or whatever-"

"You were able to listen in between nearly killing me?"

"- but is there room for one more!" He waited with baited breath, at least until Arty bumped him indignantly in the back. "Well, two."

She thought about it, she really did. Certainly, doing things her own way often worked out well. She was headstrong, intelligent enough to survive in a backwater society. It was entirely possible she would manage.

But for all those times things hadn't gone her way? Anikan or Obi-Wan or someone had had to help bail her out. Alone, that wouldn't happen. There weren't many smugglers like Karrde, she knew, who were generous and compassionate towards their brethren. Most were cutthroat criminals, and they would not lift a finger to help her unless it suited them.

Plus, it was a big galaxy. Things could be lonely out there.

"How much money do you have?"

"Not much. Three-hundred credits. Arty has another hundred."

She wondered at what a droid could possibly have use of money for, but didn't give her thoughts aloud. She shrugged. "I have a couple hundred; we can buy passage to Ord Mantell. I know a guy there who can set us up for a quick buck."

"Anything sounds good to me."

She laughed. "That's good, because whether you agreed or not I was going anyways."

XXX

At the foot of the ramp, Hoffner was talking his way through a customs official. Karrde was off to the side, his hand clutching a small disc.

"Thanks for getting me this job, I suppose," Ahsoka said with a wry smile.

The other returned it grimly. "If you're expecting me to apologize, don't. I lost a lot of good friends doing this. I suppose not getting two kids killed should ease my conscience."

She shrugged. "I meant that seriously. You're a good guy, Karrde. What are you going to do now?"

His hand fingered the disc subconsciously. "I'll find my way," he said at last. "And you?"

She gestured to Asger and Arty. "We'll find our way."

The other smiled at the jest, then reached a hand out to shake. She grasped it. For Asger, whom he had served with longer, he offered a small credit chit. "Put that to good use," he said to the young boy. "Stay safe out there, you three." The smuggler left, going into the city.

There was no time to lose. Elsewhere, she wondered what Skywalker would be doing. Fighting the Separatists on a distant planet, or talking with Rex about strategy?

She brushed it away. She had herself to worry about now. She would make ends meet.

"Come on," she said, not waiting for their response. "Let's get this show going."

TWO MONTHS LATER

XXX

They had just finished a supply run bypassing a Separatist blockade around Muunilist when they got the message. She didn't know how they had found out she had become a smuggler, or which ship they even used. It was entirely possible the Republic had been tracking her all this time; she was, after all, a former Jedi padawan. And Jedi didn't leave the Order all that often.

Even so, she wasn't sure what to do. Asger walked in on her, staring at the comm board. "What's the matter, Ashla?" he inquired. An involuntary shiver ran up her back. Two months of working together had cemented a powerful smuggling team, overcoming incredible odds at time.

But she had still not told him her actual name. Why, she couldn't even tell herself. Maybe it was fear of reawakening those old memories; the nightmares of the past had certainly lessened the more she through herself into the black market business. Either way, him calling her by that fake identity felt like claws scratching at her insides. And now this-

"What is it?" he asked again, coming to sit in the copilot seat. The flash of blue from the comm caught his eye, and he turned, flicked it. His face instantly went rigid. "Republic High Command." He gave a weird chuckle, turned to look at her. "Republic High Command? It's a joke, surely."

She cleared her throat. "It has the proper decryption code and seal of the Council. It's them."

"But- but why?" He was paling now; she had noticed the very mention of the Jedi Order got him agitated and angry. "We're done with them! Why are they calling us now?"

"Let's find out." She activated the message, and a small, holographic figure appeared on the control station. "Greetings, smugglers," Obi-Wan Kenobi said. "My name is General Obi-Wan Kenobi- well, of course you know that. You're probably wondering why we're calling you."

"Get on with it," Asger hissed beside her.

"As you know, the Clone Wars is still raging around us. Countless planets are falling victim to the war around us, even though it is clear we have the upper hand. But now, a new battle is forming, this time on the planet Mandalore."

The two former Jedi looked at each other. "Mandalore?"

"I know what you're thinking. Mandalore had rigidly remained out of the war since the beginning. But now, they've had a change of heart. The new Prime Minister Almec has the planet under his control, and we believe he will hand it over to the Confederacy. We cannot let this happen if we want to maintain a grip on the Outer Rim."

"But that's not even the worst of it." Obi-Wan's face grew even more serious. "I myself recently escaped Mandalore, after trying to save the Duchess Satine. While there, I discovered Almec is nothing but a puppet. The true mastermind of the new government is the former Sith Lord Darth Maul."

Asger snorted. "So what does this have to do with us? We're smugglers!"

"All Jedi are tied up; General Skywalker and I will brief you on the assignment before we take off to continue the war elsewhere."

She felt herself grow cold inside. She was right; they knew. This wasn't just some sort of couresty call.

Obi-Wan's hologram seemed to look through her. "We need you back, Ahsoka. This one time, at least. Come to these coordinates, and we will tell you all we can."

The hologram winked out, and Ahsoka leaned back in her seat. They needed her... again? She would see Anikan, Obi-Wan, and Rex again? She didn't know how to feel. She had spent two months carving a new life for herself, and they wanted to bring her back!

"What are you thinking?" Asger was looking at her intently. His warmth filled her, and she relaxed. "It sounds like they really need us."

"So? We're not apart of them anymore!" He was getting angry again, working himself up. "They have no right to just- to just summon us back there like a pack animal!"

"I know it's not our fight... I don't really want to go back either. But it's the right thing to do?"

"And what if we don't care?"

She gazed at him steadily, and he faltered. "I care."

"Yeah, well, I don't."

She sighed. "I'm charting us a course to those coordinates General Kenobi gave us. They might pay us well, after all. And even you said you were getting tired of the same smuggling trips."

Reluctantly, he gave her a small smile. "I guess. That episode at Jomark wasn't too bad, though."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "That's because you managed to anger the entire city by interrupting their festival."

He chuckled. "Yeah. It's a good thing you were there to help me out." He looked at her, suddenly serious. "I never thanked you for that, sorry. That was the closest I've been to going out since Hoffner's botched depot trip."

"Don't mention it, flyboy." She'd started calling him that more often, now, he often reminded her of Anikan so much.

He looked at her a moment, then away. "That Jedi General- what did he call you?"

"Sorry?" She knew very well what he was talking about, and maybe he did because he quickly said, "Nevermind."

The sound of metal rolling got their attention, and they saw Arty strolling in, beeping a question. "We're going to Mandalore," Ahsoka told him. "I'm just finishing putting in the coordinates."

Another series of raspberries. "The Republic needs us... they know Ashla was a former Jedi in the war," Asger said with a trace of bitterness. "They need her back so they can stop the Mandalorians from siding with the Confederacy. They might pay well, in addition."

The astromech gave some disgruntled beeps, then went gave a final whistle of agreement. "Glad you're deciding to tag along," Ahsoka said dryly. "Buckle in, boys, we got a long jump ahead of us."

XXX

The New Republic Fleet was only a few parsecs away from Mandalore, close enough their scout ships could go to and fro quickly but far enough the planet's long range scanners wouldn't find them.

They settled their ship down in the command ship's hangar. Out the cockpit window, Ahsoka could see Anikan and Obi-Wan and Admiral Yularen, waiting. Her stomach twisted itself into an unpleasant knot. So soon after leaving.. how would he react?

"Great. They got a committee." Asger stood up from his seat. She saw his hand was fingering his lightsaber nervously.

"Maybe you should leave that here," she said diplomatically. "I don't think they know you're a former pupil. Maybe it should stay that way."

"Yeah, good thinking." He opened a secret compartment, slid the cyclindrical device inside it. He turned to face her and mockingly held himself up for her to see. "How do I look? Presentable enough for the Jedi?"

She studied him out of the corner of her eye. He had certainly grown more muscular as the adventures of smuggling demanded of him. She could almost call him handsome.

Almost. "If you looked good enough to get that Hutt's attention on Muunilust, you're good enough for the Jedi."

"Oh ha ha ha, very funny. Come on."

They both went to the ramp. Arty opened it for them, gave them a low-pitched whistle of good luck. "Mine as well keep the ship on standby mode, Arty," Asger called as the ramp released steam. "They may not be smugglers, but I sure don't trust them any more than one."

An affirmative beep, and then the ramp was fully lowered. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out.

"Well, I have to say I was certainly not expecting to see you again, Ahsoka," Admiral Yularen said formally, holding out a business-like hand for her. She took it, suppressing a smile. The regal officer had hardly changed, except for a slightly graying mustache.

"Yes, it's very good to see you again, Ahoska," Obi-Wan said, keeping his place. He glanced over at Anikan. The other was avoiding her gaze entirely, and Ahsoka felt another guilty pang.

Obi-Wan instead turned to Asger, who was standing defiantly tight-lipped. "And who's your companion here?"

Anikan looked. Ahsoka stumbled for her words. "He's...

13h agowell, we- we're smuggling partners."

Yularan gave a snort of disdain. "Smuggling? Really? Of a former Jedi padawan?"

"There's worst things that could have happened," Skywalker said stiffly. "Good to have you back, Ahsoka." She noticedhe was still staring hard at Asger, and the other was looking back with malicious eyes.

"Well, let's pretend this is going perfectly," Obi-Wan said irritably. "I take it you're accepting our plea for help?"

Leave it to Obi-Wan to tell it how it was. "We are," Ahsoka said strongly. "What do you want us to do?"

"Putting it simply, bring Mandalore under Republic control," General Kenobi said. He handed her a datapad, and she turned it on. A full strategic analysis lit up for her to see, showing her all the information gathered by scouts. "Admiral Yularen will obtain orbital occupation; they have no flying craft so you wil certain aerial cover. You and Captain Rex need to infiltrate the city of Mandalore itself. Apprehend Almec... and Maul."

"He's a former Sith Lord," Anikan said stiffly, putting his hand and scrolling it down for her to see. A red-and-black Irodian Zabrak snarled furiously back at her. "And he's armed. Which means you'll need these."

From his waist, he withdrew two familiar looking lightsabers; her own, before she had turned her back on the Order.

And him. She could see the buried pain and confusion in her former Master's eyes, demanding why, why, WHY-

"Anikan and I have a mission elsewhere, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on her shoulder full of comfort. "I have faith you can do us this great favor."

"What about payment?" Asger interrupted. "We didn't come as a mercy mission. We came because we expect good money for this!"

Yularen looked affronted. Skywalker, however, waved him off dismissively. "We'll drop you a line of say 25000 credits."

Asger's jaw dropped, recovering only when he saw Anikan giving him a snarky smile. "Th-that's acceptable," he muttered.

"Good. best you go along with the Admiral." They had another fierce staredown, then Obi-Wan said, "Anikan, let's get going."

"Yeah, just a moment. Alone."

No one said anything, but they nevertheless moved away. Anikan looked at her, and this time it was her who couldn't meet his gaze.

"What are you doing with... him?"

"He's my partner."

"You know what I mean."

"He's... my partner. In the business."

Skywalker shook his head. "You left the Order... to be with him? A lowlife?"

"He's not a lowlife!"

"He sure smells like one, Snips."

"Don't call me that!"

His face contorted, and then relaxed. "I just wish I was going with you instead of him," he said quietly. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay-"

"It's not. A Jedi isn't supposed to have attachment, of any kind." She turned to face him, and saw watery eyes. "And you were one hell of an apprentice, Ahsoka."

"And you were a good Master. Take care of yourself out there, flyboy."

He pointed to the lightsabers at her waist. "And you, too."

He walked away, jogging after Obi-Wan. With a tearful sigh, she walked the other way, towards Asger and Yularen.


	4. order 66

laren flicked a switch and the large viewscreen flickered to life. The planet Mandalore hung there like a defiant child against its parental Republic Fleet.

Even from here, Ahsoka could sense the sort of repulsive, stank sense of darkness hanging around it.

"The Mandalorians lack a shield generator, so landing shouldn't be a problem," the Admiral said stoutly, turning to Ahsoka and Asger, who was looking around with fascination, no doubt awed over being in such a sophisticated ship. "However, our objective is not merely a planetary subjugation, but the capture of this 'Maul' character." He turned pointedly to Ahsoka and Asger, mustache bristling. "That is where you come in, of course."

She looked back calmly, though she felt very tired of the others passive-aggressive tone. She had known Yularen to be a staunch ally of the Republic from the moment he'd joined the Navy. His loyalty was next to none, and she could tell by the offended look in his eyes he saw her as nothing more than a common scoundrel now.

A steep change, she thought darkly, from when they had been on the same side. "I can't do it alone," she said aloud, giving Asger a side look. The Republic had no idea there would be two of them, and he smiled back at her little joke.

He had proven his worth over the two months, a capable fighter indeed. His saber skills, while certainly unperfected due to a lack of proper training, were effective and brutal. She imagined this Maul would be very easy to suppress with the two of them.

Yularen, not knowing this, gave a brisk nod. "Of course, we've already seen to that. You'll be paired with Clone Captain Rex, and veteran elements of the battalion. Bringing in Maul should prove little problem, I'm certain."

She hardly heard him; her heart was hammering uncomfortably in her chest as it had when she'd first seen Anikan. Another old friend, whom she had left behind. Would he be as hurt and blunt as Anikan had? Reflexively, her left hand wrapped around one of the lightsabers like a stress toy.

Behind her, Asger moved close as Yularen spoke via hologram to the other ship commanders. "Hey, why so stiff?" he whispered to her. "I can't say I'm thrilled to be working with the Jedi again, but the payout for this is gonna be tremendous! Not to mention we can't fail; we're two Jedi!"

Ahsoka resisted the urge to call out neither of them had ever gotten past the rank of padawan. "Just nervous," she lied. "I'd heard a lot about this Darth Maul guy before; he's bad news. A former Sith, if the reports are to be believed."

"A Sith? Like Dooku?"

She shrugged. "Dooku seems more sophisticated. Maul is an Irodian Zabrak; red and black tattooed with horns popping out of his head."

Asger made a mock disgusted face. "What a guy."

"Alright!" Yularen clapped his hands, bringing their attention back. "We will commence Operation Stormdrop in 0200 hours. Get to your vessels!"

He again turned pointedly to Ahsoka and Asger. "And may the Force be with us."

"We're coming in hot!" The dropship jostled around them as another air-burst missile exploded nearby. Their clone pilot was good; the genetics of Jango Fett always did seem to pay off.

She had not gotten to see Rex. Asger had insisted they relax before the voyage began. Her urge to see the former Captain had been great, but secretly she had been relieved she did not have to confront another specter of the past she was trying so hard to lose. They had spent the time at the holotable, Arty giving biased advise against her-

The ship lurched as a particularly loud explosion rung her ears. "Left engine been hit!" she heard the clone pilot shout. "I'm gonna crash us down into one of the main streets!"

"Copy that!" she shouted back. The missile fire had stopped; the Mandalorians must have realized the ship was out of commission, and were targeting other live dropships. Through the blastdoors, she saw one of the five ships explode on their left. She prayed Rex wasn't aboard it.

"Storm Leader!" She pulled out the mini-hologram: Yularen's miniature statue looked back at her, face lined and strained. "They have enemy fighters off in the southern sector where we're concentrating our landing- you should have little resistance as you breach the citadel!"

She nodded. "Thank you, Admiral. Good luck to you."

He signed off without a response, and she heard Asger give a snort. "Not very compassionate, is he?" She noticed he was shaking slightly, though his face was a mask of dark determination. Ahsoka realized he had probably never been in a battle before, never fought in the war. For him, this was a new experience.

"You gonna be okay?" she teased, but carefully.

"Oh, yeah." He fingered the lightsaber nervously. "Definitly okay-"

"Coming down!" the pilot shouted. The other troopers in the dropship loaded their weapons. They seemed much less talkative as she remembered; perhaps the burden of war had steeled them as much as it had her. With a jarring landing, the dropship slammed upon one of the streets of the capital of Mandalore, scraping and sliding. The left engine collapsed altogether, making the ship skid all the more perilously. She grabbed a hand rail, as did Asger. His other hand was holding the lightsaber awkwardly, still trembling.

He's terrified, she realized. Without really realizing it, she took hold of his hand. He looked at her questionably, his mask slipping a little. "It's okay," she said strongly as the dropship finally slid to a halt. "I'm with you."

Asger's head bobbed, and then the blast doors opened.

A storm of yellowed bolts slammed into the cabin; the Mandalorians had been waiting for them! She ignited both her lightsabers in a flash, blocking most of the bolts, but one trooper took one to the throat and went down with a scream. The clones regrouped, taking cover in the cabin and retaliated with their blue lasers. One of the Mandalorians in turn struck the ground, dead. One took two bolts to the chest, but he remained standing; his armor had absorbed the shots.

Putting all her mind back into the old training, she hurled the left lightsaber at him. The bright green shaft of light impaled him in the chest, and he looked down at it before reeling over. She called it back to her hand to block another string of fire-

"Jedi!" A furious yell; another of the Mandalorians had bent over, his fingers dancing along his jetpack controls. The rocket attached to it fired straight at her. Her hand stretched out, grabbed it mentally. The explosive slowed until it stopped completely. Gently, she nudged it to the earth.

It exploded with enough force to break her concentration, but the smoke of the explosion was giving them cover. The Mandalorians were shooting still, but they could not see them as clearly. "Out of the ship!" she shouted to the clones and Asger, pointing to a pile of debris in the street that offered better cover. Where the other dropships were, she didn't know- could they, too have been shot down?

She moved sluggishly, and her breathing sounded funny to her. She moved her head around; everything seemed out of proportion, strange-looking. The yellow bursts of light went over her head, but it was as if she couldn't see them. Her vision swam uncomfortably, her stomach roiled-

A comforting hand took her own. She looked up at Asger. "Be strong," he said encouragingly. "I'm with you-"

"Jedi filth!" An armored hand struck him out of the way, and she gasped. The Mandalorian raised a dagger, to bring it down on her.

"NO-!" Asger's lightsaber flashed through the other's entire arm. Armor and flesh dropped away and the Mandalorian screamed. The purple blade slashed horizontally through him, bisecting the warrior.

A murderous rage seemed to be coming over the former trainee. She watched, strangely dazed, as he cut through more of the warriors. The clone troopers had retreated into the debris pile firing, aiding him, but more Mandalorians were flooding the scene in their crimson armor.

"For Death Watch!" She saw a taller Mandalorian standing atop the wreckage of their dropship. The clone pilot's dead body was draped near him; artificial horns popped out of his helmet, a deadly looking, high-powered blaster rifle clutched in red-gloved hands. He fired at Asger as he chopped through more warriors, but they were now activating their jetbacks, giving their leader a clear shot.

Asger faced the horned-helmet, his eyes hidden behind his swath of hair. She recoiled from him; chilling air emanated from him, like back in the blaster pod. The Mandalorian paused, studied him. "You have the gall to look at ME with hatred, when you trespass upon our planet!" the warrior shouted. "For House Saxon, I will treat you like my ancestors would!" The Mandalorian opened fire. Asger blocked the shots, rolled away from the ones he couldn't.

"Asger..." she muttered weakly. "Calm down... don't give into hate..." But he didn't seem to hear her...

A loud whine of metal caught all of their attention. She looked into the sky as the Mandalorians hovering veered around to look-

One of the gunships plowed through the cloud of warriors to strike the already crashed gunship. The leader's jetpack burned to life just in time. "Fall back to the citadel!" he shouted, waving for the survivors to follow. They threw down thermal detonators, but by now Ahsoka had mostly recovered. Taking a knee, she waved the detonators to explode harmlessly in the air. The Manalorians flew down the street, towards a towering white building in the distance.

Cold hands took her, and she flinched. But it was only Asger, looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?' he demanded. "What did they do to you?"

"Battle shock." Ahsoka's heart beat rapidly again, but the larger hands that helped her to her feet were full of warmth. "I had it too, and it'll happen when you're away from the combat for too long." Rex took off his helmet, and she looked back, lip trembling.

"I don't blame you for what happened, Ahsoka," he said, and she saw Asger's face darken again. But right now, her eyes were for Rex only. "I'm just glad you're back." And he hugged her in his soot-stained armor. She took it back, deeply, memories flashing in her mind. How good was it, to have comforting hands around her again, instead of the loneliness in the life of a smuggler, a pirate?

"Thank you," she murmured back, released him. Rex popped the helmet back on and turned to Asger. "And you- that was some fancy bladework you got. I was told Ahsoka was the only Jedi on this mission, though."

The mechanic flinched at her name again, and she looked away remembering how she had still never told him her actual name. "I'm along for the ride," Asger said steadily. "My name's Asger." He held out a hand for Rex to take, and theclone captain took it.

"Well, as long as you're on ou

The streets were checkered white with an unknown material, though many of the artful stones were cracked or disfigured by war. Their boots clapped down rhythmically down upon them, echoing slightly through the empty streets.

Ahsoka's own encounter with Mandalorians had hardly been generous. She had fought against the former Death Watch leader Pre Vizla before, where they had captured and attempted to execute her simply for being a Jedi. But as she took in the nauseating sense of fear in the whole planet and saw the destruction wrought by Maul and Amnem's reign, it became all the more imperative to her they end it now.

By her side, Asger was strangely quiet. Normally he would have cracked a joke, or made some sort of conversation; he hated silence. But now he was quiet; they all were, save for the distant thunder of Yularen's ships sending an orbital bombardment down.

"You okay?" she murmured to him as they stopped to evaluate how to gain entrance.

"Yeah." He shook his head as if shaking off a pestering insect. "Just... been a while since I used a lightsaber competently again."

"You used them fine on Trandosha-"

He shook his head again. "Not like a Jedi. Not like I was trained. These Mandalorians... they're actual warriors- you know the old stories, right? Jedi killers, all of them." He fingered the silvery hilt. "It's... reawakening some old memories. I'll be fine, though."

Ahsoka nodded, went over to Rex. She didn't have time to worry about him right now, anyways. The clone captain saw her and waved for her to look at a miniature holo display. "We have a backdoor here. A well timed detonation will get us in, but alert any troops in the area."

"No quiet way in, huh?" she said, studying the holo of the towering citadel.

Rex shrugged. "Where would be the fun in that, anyways?"

She smirked. "I like things to be a little easy, too. We ready, then?"

"You and your friend take point after the detonators blow, and we shoot our way in." He pointed to a higher elevation on the citadel. "These are the Mandalore's quarters; Maul or Amnem, maybe both, should be up there. We blast our way up, and take them."

"I hate stairs." Asger had joined them, also looking at the hologram. "There a lift we can take?"

"Don't trust electronics in a war kid," Rex cautioned. "They can shut down the lift; or just as easily drop us all the way to the ground. No, we take the stairs."

"And what makes you think they won't already have blocked the stairs?" Asger countered. He cocked his head with a small smile. "Rules of war, right?"

Rex glowered through his helmet- "There's a secondary window beneath the Mandalore's quarters," Ahsoka inserted quickly, not wanting an argument to start. "If we can take the second floor, we can use grappling cables to get to that floor, bypassing both stairs and lifts. Whoever's inside will be ours for the taking."

The clone captain gave another shrug. "Sounds as good as any. What about you, master strategist?"

Asger scowled.

XXX

"1...2...3... boom."

The metal security dor went flying off its hinges as the charges blew. She heard shouts of confusion from inside, and she ingited her twin blades again, mentally preparing for battle again. She wouldn't fall victim to shock again.

Behind her, she heard Asger take a deep breath, then ignite his own.

They barreled in, swinging the energy blades around vigorously. Yellow blaster bolts glanced off, while some missed entirely in the opening confusion.

Rex's twin blaster pistols fired behind them, knocking a Mandalorian down, his crimson armor smoking and broken.

"All units down to subsection 4-G!" Her head snapped to the side; the horned Mandalorian from before, speaking into a comlink on his wrist. She hurled her shoto saber at him, and he narrowly ducked. With his other wirst he fired a twin-wrist blast, which she blocked with ease as the shoto spun back to her grip.

He activated his jetpack and flew above his heads, but she saw he wasn't carrying blasters. She focused her attention back on the ground.

Asger's blade hummed periosly close to her, and she flinched away. A different warrior had been sneaking up on her while distracted by the horned one. Asger's blade sliced off his head in a spark of purple. He looked at her with a mask of calmness, though she could sense the uncertain wavering of his emotions. She tried to give him a confident smile, but a fresh salvo stole her attention back.

"Get down!" She immeaditely dropped down; Rex and another trooper had thrown thermal detonators right above their heads. They exploded near the a central, ornate fountain the Mandalorians had been taking cover behind; it exploded in a blast of ceramics. She shielded herself from the debris, while the armored troops on both sides ignored the flying ceramic. They blasted away at each other with vigorous determination. Again and again her blades defected the bolts away or back to the sender-

A great roaring sounded above them. She looked up with dread; the horned Mandalorian was high above them but rapidly flying away from the now collapsing ceiling. Ahsoka realized he must have planted detonators above them to try and choke them out.

"Get over here!" she shouted to the clones and Asger. She raised her hands, using the Force to try and catch the falling rubble. But it was too heavy, too much- trying to hold it up was making herself physically ill-

Asger's hand, icy cold, wrapped around her wrist. "I'm with you," he grunted harshly. He raised his own hand; untrained, unbalanced, but there was untapped strength she used. Together, the raining debris stopped just a meter above their heads. With a gasp, they heaved it away.

The troopers fanned out again, immediately going for the cover, but there was no need. The Mandalorians had fled up the stairs, no doubt to make the defenses Asger had hypothesized.

"Come on!" Rex called. "Let's get to the balcony!" The rushed over to the overhang. From where they were, Ahsoka could see another salvo of blue fire descend from the sky to strike the city, igniting another portion of the already raging fire.

"Disgusting," Asger intoned beside her as they unpacked their grappling hooks. "Can't believe we got dragged back into this. From smugglers to Jedi."

"It's one time," she murmured. "After this, we're done. With all of it, this isn't our fight."

He snorted. "You believe that? We helped them once, they'll want it again. They're greedy, taking advantage of us. You saw how Yularen looked at us- we're just items to use as they conquest!"

"That's not true," she said, shocked. His face was hard; despite the youth she knew him, he looked somehow older, more matured. He looked out at the bombardment with disdain.

Or maybe he was just looking away from her. She could sense his discomfort, the inner turmoil. Finally, he asked it. "Why did you never tell me your name is Ahsoka?"

She bit her lip. "Is now the time?"

Asger turned to look at her, and this time it was her turn to look away. "Yes. Why?" She remained silent, and the chill emanating from him increased. "Or is it you just view me as a tool, too?"

"No!" she said angrily. "I... that name belonged to my past, I wanted to forget it, leave to behind and start a new future away from the war." The brief emotion ended. "But it looks like that no matter how big this galaxy is, we can't escape it," she said wearily.

But Asger wasn't convinced. "So you never thought once to tell me of who you were before?" he demanded. "Not your old name, but some fake identity you made for yourself? You know everything about me- why hide yourself from me!"

"We're smuggler partners, not..." She stopped herself, but the damage was done. His face twisted with the shock of the uncompleted sentence.

"Not... friends? Just partners. Just partners." He said the word again more to himself.

Tentatively, she stretched out to feel his mind. There was a chain reaction of pain, and she realized that he had viewed them as even more than friends. He had developed feelings for her...

"Just partners." He said it a final time, dully. "I suppose that's all I can expect from a Jedi. Sticking to the emotionless, binding code-"

"I'm not a Jedi!" she protested.

He stared at her coldly. "That's not how it looks to me."

"Are we ready?" Rex said. His troops had finished fastening their hooks. Ahsoka looked at Asger, pleadingly, not really sure what she wanted from him. But he remained stony.

"Ready when you are, Captain," he said tonelessly. The Captain nodded, and as one they all fired their guns. The metal wire shot forward, the metal hook sticking deep into the stonework several yards above their heads. They began to raise against the polished white.

Ahsoka blinked hard, tyring to get the sudden tears out of her eyes. 'He IS just a partner,' she tried to tell herself. 'He's a good hand to have around, but that's all. Stop worrying about it!' The words were hollow in her ears, however.

The reached the top of the secondary window, and one of the troopers swung, feet first, right through the window. It shattered terrifically, and they all went through the chipped glass.

The scene seemed to freeze. She recognized Minster Amnem in the middle of packing a luggae full of clothes, flanked by six Mandalorians. To their right was the horned Mandalorian leader, looking at them, helmet off, mouth open mid conversation, with blank shock.

Talking to another horned being. Except it was no mask, they were apart of his angular red-and black face.

Rex pointed his blaster pistols at both Amnem and Maul, clearly unsure of whom he should address. "You all are under Republic arrest," he said to Maul instead. "Surrender now, and we can end this quietly."

Maul recovered quickly. "My, my, I should consider myself flattered," he said with mock admiration. "Republic shock troops, and two Jedi! I should be flattered they sent this much after me."

"Stand down, Sith," Asger said quietly. "Don't make me kill you."

Ahsoka noted that Asger had referred only to himself, so she took a step forward as well. The Mandalorians tensed, and the unmasked horned one crouched slightly.

Maul laughed. "Sith? No, not anymore." The yellow eyes narrowed. "But that should not mean you should take this any less seriously, does it?"

She saw the saber hilt fly into his hand from his belt, and she leaped through the air as the clones saw it too and opened fire. They cut down two of the guards in a moment. Two retaliated fire, while the horned one and another grabbed Amnem and made to drag him from the room.

The seventh took the hair, lobbing a thermal detonator right at them. Asger caught it with the Force and sent it back to him as she landed by Maul. Her lightsabers blocked his opening strike, a wide arc that almost jarred the sabers from her grip. With an effortless grunt, he shoved her off and attacked with wide sweeping combos that attacked her sides. She blocked his blows again and again, red glancing off green and yellow-green again and again.

Rex was shouting for an airstrike on their position; more Mandalorians, answering the call to protect their leaders were swarming into the high-ceiling quarters.

"Don't get distracted, girl"! Maul swiped for her legs, a ridiuclusly low he performed so easily she wondered if he possessed a spine. She barely blocked in time, the enemy saber glancing off the energy blade to swipe around back at her head. Her shoto caught it, and for the moment, his left side was exposed-

Maul's hand went to a strange hilt at his belt, and she recognized it with anger. The Darksaber, the same ancient lightsaber she had fought against when it had belonged to Pre Vizla. Maul parried her blow, and they sat there stuck in a saber lock. His furious face leered close to hers, his anger was so great she was slowly being bent back-

She could hear the horned fighter whirling around, fighting Asger. He had some sort of electro-staff he fought Asger with. However, unlike her, he was having no trouble. Despite him having far less training than her, he was driving his foe back furiously, with an almost mad rage. Unpredictable purple swathes sent the horned Mandalorian to the sky again, but he Force-leaped into the air, kicked down to the earth. The jetpack malfunctioned upon landing-

Maul pressed feroicuously down on her, and her right wrist bent awkwardly. The shoto lightsaber was taken from her grip. The darksider came at her, the roles switched now. The lightsabers, red and black, hammered at her defenses. She couldn't seem to exhaust him, and she was already tired, both emotionally and physically from all that had already happened.

"You are no Jedi," the former Sith scoffed. "Trained, but weak. A failed padawan, perhaps?"

"None of your business," she gritted out. She swiped for his chest, but he blocked it easily.

He smiled viciously. "Yes, a failed padawan. Another broken object done by the Jedi, hmm? They did me wrong as well- look how I must be, half machine now!" His face contorted, the yellow eyes seemed to grow bloody with hate. "No Jedi, half-trained or not, can stand in my way! You hear me, girl?!"

"My name-" She recalled the shoto to her hand, and Maul heard the whirring, but not in time enough that it sliced through one of his horns and skimmed his cheek, making him howl in pain. She caught it deftly, looked at him defiantly.  
"Is Ahsoka Tano."

She leaped for him, a on now he was on the defensive. The Force calmed her, gave her strength. But the anger of his taunts also seemed to course through her. It was strange balance, she felt herself be cold and warm. Maul could no longer her fighting style; his hate grew more and more as she backed him away, but he could not keep up.

Finally, she locked him against the wall in a final saber lock. He looked at her through furious eyes, but his power over her was gone.

She pressed him away, backflipped away. The Mandalorians were retreating, unable to fight Rex and his shock troops. He was talking to someone via hologram, someone she couldn't see- and didn't care about. Using the Force, she mentally wrangled the Darksaber from his grip. It flew across the room, leaving him only with the red saber-

Asger's purple saber flashed through the handle of the silvery hilt, leaving Maul defenseless. She saw the horned Mandalorian was alive, but a deep gash had been scored down his side. He was wheezing, hardly conscious-

"Think you can mock us and get away with it?" Asger seethed. She was repulsed by him; he was emanating as much hatred as Maul, perhaps even more so. The former Sith looked at him, the anger being replaced by confusion.

"You, a darksider-?"

"Shut up!" He brought he purple saber up to cleave through him-

"Asger, don't!" she shouted, but he hesitated only a moment. The blade descended-

The danger sense flickered to her just in time. She spun around, lightsabers blocking the blue blaster bolts- blue?

The clones- they were shooting at her! And Asger!

"Stop, what are you doing?!" she shouted. But the clones didn't listen, or didn't care. It was out of nowhere, what was going on? Surely it was some sort of mistake-

But they kept firing, and in the sudden confusion one bolt hit her in the side. "Agh..." she went down on a knee, but the incoming fire was relentless. With her green saber, she blocked as best as she could, but another struck her in the shoulder-

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Asger swept through them; he was sporting a blaster wound in his thigh, but still he had managed to go on the offensive. he chopped through four of them before they fled away from him-

"Look out!" She couldn't be sure, but it sounded like Rex, but in another second it didn't matter. The room was torn apart by a concussion missile; the airship Rex

had requested was firing on them! It was no nightmarishly wrong, why were they suddenly shooting them-!

She saw the hilt of the Darksaber fly back into Maul's hand as he fled out through some sort of hidden escape hatch-

Asger's cold hands gripped her under the armpits. "Not a bad place to follow him," he snarled quickly. His right hand came out from under to block more shots from the clones-

She was slipping into darkness, the pain from her own injuries were too great, but she forced herself to remain awake. It would not do them good if she collapsed now, when he was risking his own life to save hers.

Together, they fled down the hatch, the traitorous blue bolts singing just over their heads.

he hatch led them sliding down a chilling metal tunnel that with every turn made her injuries more painful and threatened to make her black out. She had never been wounded so gravely in any battle, bot even during the mishap smuggler escape.

Asger did his best to keep her close as they winded down, and she was grateful he was there at all. He could have left her for dead, but he hadn't, despite the indifference she had shown him.

She vowed that would no longer happen.

The chute ended in a soft, squishy material that gave them an easy landing. Maul was nowhere to be seen, but Ahsoka didn't have the energy to pursue him any longer. All she wanted to do was sleep...

"What the hell was that," Asger said furiously. "They tried to kill us!"

"I know," she gasped, clutching the side blast. Instantly a wave of warmth flowed over her as Asger bent to examine it.

"Not too serious," he said hesitantly.

"Thanks," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm sure that's why I'm doubled over."

He winced, clutching his own wound in the chest. "Less talking, more moving. Come on-" He hefted her arm over his neck, and they began to awkwardly limp across. They were in some sort of stone cavern. The walls shined wetly, but there were paintings etched into the wall, of triumphant figures in Mandalorian Armor, and what appeared to be them fighting waves upon waves of Jedi.

None of it caught her eye. She was still trying understand what had happened. "What do you think happened?" she asked at last.

He stared forward, his forehead studded with the sweat of helping her move. He was strong, but being wounded it was an immensely taxing effort. "I think the Republic decided that since we had Maul, they didn't need us anymore," he said stiffly. "Tried to get rid of us, two rogue Jedi."

"That doesn't sound like the Republic at all," she protested. "No, something happened-"

He laughed. "Like what? Chancellor decided he doesn't like Jedi in general or something? Please. No, that Yularen guy definitely didn't like us. I bet he gave the troops orders to kill us once we had Maul apprehended."

"But we didn't have him captured," she pointed out. "You were about to... well..."

He gave her a sidelong look. "Yeah, I got a little carried away," he muttered. "Sorry. I just... didn't want him to hurt you."

Ahsoka thought about how he had viciously attacked the clones when they had shot her, and of her realization he held an attraction for her. She banished such thoughts from her mind. "It's fine," she said aloud. "But that being said, I'd prefer if you didn't lost your temper so much. It's... kind of scary to see."

The smuggler rippled his shoulders in a shrug. "I'll work on it," he said noncommittally. "We just need to get Arty for a pickup."

She blinked, then gasped. "Arty! The ship! If Yularen- or someone- decided to kill us, they'll almost have certainly destroyed the ship as well!"

Asger laughed again. "You think they'll kill that borderline psychopath droid so easily? No, if he thinks somethings wrong he'll have escaped and is probably searching the planet for us. All we need to do is activate a distress beacon and he'll home in on us."

"And so will the clones."

He grimaced. "We'll work on that... agh, come on."

Ripples of pain were coming off him but he somehow forced himself to keep going. She was astounded at his dedication to save them both; what indifference to him that had existed before was utterly crushed, and for the first time she saw him as something like an equal, not some rejected padawan. Gently, she touched him with the Force and pooled some of her remaining strength and cooling presence into him.

His back straightened some and he exhaled softly. "Thanks," he whispered, hefting her again and walking with a more energetic step. Ahsoka's own body was still in tremendous pain, but the warmth emanating from him now was strangely soothing...

XXX

"Ahsoka, psst, Ahsoka!" Blearily, she opened her eyes. The world swam into view, and she tried to move, not remembering the wound to her shoulder. She bit her lip to suppress a whimper.

Asger was crouched above her, lightsaber in hand. "You're awake? Good, come on, wake up?"

"Wuzz... was I asleep?"

He gave her a toothy grin. "Passed out on me, didn't ya?" he said. "I let you and me rest. But come, someone's coming."

The Force flowed through her, waking her up. "Why did you let me sleep," she hissed angrily. "We're being practically hunted down by our former chances and you thought it was a good idea for a nap?!"

He went tense. "This cave or whatever it is was too long for one journey. I had to rest, and so did you. I bandaged you up."

For the first time she noticed the bottom of his tunic was ripped up, and she felt pressure on her left shoulder, and right thigh-

"You... bandaged my thigh?" she said uncertainly, feeling a blush come over her. It was a ridiculous thought in such a terrible situation, but it still seemed aggravating enough.

Asger reddened in turn. "I take it you're not complaining," he hissed sardonically. "Come on, let's- no, I see lights! Quick, here!"

He grabbed her by her bad arm forcefully and wrenched her bodily. She nearly blacked out again with the pain, but she suddenly understood the rush. Marching footsteps in unision, with spotlights coming out of the darkness of the cave-

In the dim light, she saw two furry bodies on the cave floor and she looked at them in confusion. Had he stayed awake to defend them from predators while she slept? Guilt crossed over her, but then he had fully dragged her into a tight crevice in the cave wall. As quickly and quietly as he could, he moved a larger rock to shield them further-

As a full squad of clone troopers entered the cave section. Their spotlights immediately found the corpses and they went over to them. "Partial cauterization in the stomachs," one of them reported, loud enough for them to see. "Lightsaber, by the looks of it. They passed through here, Captain."

"I see." Her heart almost stopped; she recognized the delicately different voice inflection; Rex! "Fan out. Chandler, Niner, lets pick apart this section. The rest of you go back; I studied a sound-map of the cave system, it ends in only twenty feet."

She felt Asger tense beside her as most of the squad saluted and left without a word. She could sense dark, unexplainable anger in them. An almost robotic, emotionless tone...

"What are you doing?" Ahsoka whispered as loudly as she dared as she felt him move again.

He wasn't brave enough to whisper back. With his hands, he drew a finger across his neck twice, then clutched his hands together as if holding onto a pole.

"Too dangerous!" she protested. The clone troopers had dispersed, one still picking over the dead animals. Rex was looking where the other troops had gone, standing rigid, while the third was coming awfully close to their hiding spot...

Asger winked, and then ignited his lightsaber.

The clones were fast, alright. The one by them and the animals had their rifles up, tracking Asger by his purple blade. Before they could fire a shot, however, he had hurled his blade at one, piercing him through the chest.

The other was taken out by a pair of hands around his neck.

She stumbled out of the crevice, looking in shock. Rex looked back at her, then at Asger who had taken a defensive position, lightsaber poised. "Relax," the clone captain said tersely. "I'm... not with them."

"Easy for you too say," Asger snorted. "Put your hands where I can see them, or I'll take them off of you, literally."

"Asger!" she said furiously. But she was still too unsure of what Rex was doing. "What do you mean, you're not with them?" she echoed. "What the hell is going on?"

Rex took off his helmet, and she saw a sort of feral look in them. "I... I received a message from the Chancellor. Chancellor Palpatine.

She looked at him without reaction. Asger took a threatening step closer. "Never heard of it," he said tersely. "Get against the wall-"

"It's a programmed order in all clones to kill every Jedi in the Republic."

He froze, and she felt her chest tighten painfully. "It... what?"

Rex looked at her helplessly. "You heard me right. Every clone in the Republic, at this very moment, is killing Jedi around the galaxy. Cato Nemodia, Mygeeto, Felucia, even Coruscant. A built-in command code in the inhibitor chips accessible only to the Kaminoan cloners and the Chancellor."

"I don't believe it," Asger scoffed, recovered from the shock. His face had a sort of entertained look on it. "Sounds like you spent a lot of time working on that story. One flaw though, clone. Why aren't you attacking us, too?"

Rex stared him down balefully. "Because I had mine removed. Not legally, mind you. But you remember, Ahsoka, the incident with Fives?"

She had indeed known about that fateful incident, a "rogue clone attacks the Chancellor" had made headline news on the HoloNet. She had recognized the veteran clone Fives's face instantly, and she panged with the memory. "I remember it," she said, still cautious. Rex's hands were empty, but if she had fought with him long enough to know he was capable of quite a lot.

"He found a kink in the inhibitor chip," the clone captain said eagerly. "The cloners dismissed it as a simple defect, but I realized with further studying it was something built into it from the very beginning! To make it so we couldn't deny an order... like this one."

"Please," he said desperately, looking at her with those feral, pained eyes. "You have to believe me. I... I don't know what's going on either. I'm just trying to get away, too."

And she finally believed him. She had never seen the always hardened, always regal Rex in such a confused, almost humbled state. "He's telling the truth," she told Asger quietly, and he gave her a disbelieving look.

"You can't be serious," he said angrily. "It's such a c*** and bull story- why would the Chancellor want to kill all the Jedi?! It makes absolutely zero sense-"

"Then let's find out for ourselves," she said firmly. "We'll go to Coruscant and talk to the Council for ourselves."

Rex shook his head sadly. "They're dead, Ahsoka. Believe me, they're... everyone... all gone."

For a moment, she had a devastating mental image of Anakin and Obi-Wan, lying dead in some forgotten field while white-armored soldiers marched past. 'No,' she told herself firmly. 'That's not what happened, not at all!'

"We need to go to Coruscant," she repeated. "Asger, what do you think?"

He eyed Rex a moment longer, then finally deactivated his lightsaber. "Fine," he bit out. "But how are we supposed to get out of here? He said the cave ended ahead."

"I lied," Captain Rex said steadily, pointing deeper out into the cave. "In another few hundred feet it empties out into a waterfall overlooking the Valley of Mandalore. A pickup from your droid- if it survived- should get you out of here."

"You lied to give us time to escape," Ahsoka realized. Rex gave her a small, sad smile. "Come with us!"

He hesitated, looked at Asger who was busy trying to get the distress signal to work; being close to the outside, it would probably attract Arty's attention.

"I'll find my own way out," Rex said at last. "Perhaps I can figure out what's going on for myself, too. Stay safe out there, Ahsoka."

She hugged him, tight and sincere. His armor was cold but she didn't care. "Thank you," she said, on the verge of tears. "For everything."

"Stay safe, Ahsoka." He released her, though she held on for a few more moments. He gave her a two-fingered salute, then walked back to where he had sent the rest of his squad.

"I have a signal!" Asger said triumphantly, snapping her attention away from the retreating form of one of her best friends. "Arty, we're at the mouth of a cave looking over they Valley of Mandalore! Can you pick us up!"

A furious raspberry belonging to the astromech droid greeted them, and Asger sighed with relief. "Save the botched escape for when we're aboard, would you?"

She, too, sighed in relief. They would be able to get to Coruscant, and sort this whole mess out. Surely Rex was overreacting, despite his sincerity. Master Windu and Yoda, even if they no longer saw them as Jedi, would have comforting words.

"Don't get comfortable yet," Asger said grimly into her thoughts. "We're not out of this yet."

"Not by a long shot."


	5. Chapter 5

div class="round8 bubbledRight" style="max-height: 999999px; border-radius: 8px; margin-top: 5px; clear: both; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #cdcdcd; overflow: auto; background-color: #e1ffa1; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;" never liked them," he said dully. "But seeing all that... it definitely doesn't sit well with me either. But we just have to push on, y'know? We can't let this slow us down." He swallowed, his arms tense. "I imagine it's what they would want from us as well."br /Oddly, his presence was more pronounced, like a soft blanket. Yet, inside she felt an icy fire. "I hate them," she said suddenly. "I hate them for what they've done, the Republic, the Clones, everyone. I want to make them pay for what they've done here." The words sounded childish and yet they were filled with such a sincere tone that she felt Asger take a deep /His hold on her relinquished. She turned around to face him, saw him running his hands through his hair. "Well... look, we're not going anywhere. The whole planet's being interdicted for the day, something about the... the Emperor? The Emperor returning from a short trip and requiring maximum security." He shook his head. "Don't recall the Republic ever having an Emperor."br /Arty beep's echoed from deep inside the ship. "He's working on gathering data from all the HoloNet reports," he said, looking even more queasy. "Uh, look, we're not going anywhere anytime soon, so, uh, why don't we just... go for a walk?"br /His expression was priceless, as if he expected her to pull out her lightsaber and cleave him in two. But his suggestion was well-intended. She forced a smile. It couldn't hurt, could it? To walk off the pain she was feeling inside. "Sure, let's go out. Beats this view anyway."br /XXXbr /Despite herself, she began to enjoy the stroll quite readily. They ascended to the main level of Coruscant with tan cloaks on shielding their faces. Their lightsabers were left behind on the vessel so as to not draw any attention. They walked as civilians in the capital of the government that now seemed ready to gun them down on /Asger picked out a small, scrunched up diner where they were serviced by a MarkIII Server Droid with a broken vocal-reciprocator. Nevertheless, the food was delicious; by chance, the diner specialized in dishes from Tortuga, her homeworld, and she was more than happy to oblige. It filled her up and soothed her quivering /When the check came, the droid hand-signed them that there was a couple's discount. Asger immediately reddened and tried to protest they weren't together, but Ahsoka gave him a small nod, and he accepted the discount with a quavering /The streets were lined with information centers, vendors shouting out the names of magazines, datapad centers, tabloids, anything. And people were tearing them up, standing by the stands as they devoured whatever it was that had happened to the /She paid it no mind. Asger sharp eye saw a specialized ship-outfitter shop, and the two of them walked in, her hand on his arm and a small smile on her /XXXbr /"You have a presence about you."br /They paused, under one of the flickering streetlamps. Night had fallen after the many hours exploring the cityscape. Finally, Ahsoka had suggested they return to the ship to see if the interdiction had /And now they had been stopped. Not by a clone patrol as she had been fearing, but my an elderly human woman with a mop of bleached white hair and wrinkles sunken into her skin like the cuts of a thousand knives. She seemed harmless, but Ahsoka could feel the woman wasn't /"A presence?" Asger asked cautiously, his arm in front of her /The woman, seated on a set of cracked steps leading into what Ahsoka guessed was her house, nodded. "A presence about you, young man." The crone's crinkled eyes narrowed further. "Something that doesn't belong to you. I can hear it."br /Asger looked at her beseechingly, and she shrugged back. "What's the harm?" she murmered, then nudged him forward. The young man approached /"What makes you say that?" he said /"Show me it," the woman said /He hesitated, then his hand dipped to his waist. Ahsoka looked with shock as he pulled out Master Windu's lightsaber. 'We left them back on the ship,' she thought furiously. 'What was he thinking, bring it back out!' She swallowed down her indignation and watched the scene the unfold; there would be time to berate him /The elderly woman nodded as she took the silvery weapon from his strong hands. "This is cursed," she said. "It stinks of betrayal. If you do not relinquish it, you too will know betrayal as it had."br /"Betrayal?" Asger /'Betrayal?' Ahsoka thought to herself. 'Was that how Master Windu had died? Someone had betrayed him?'br /Again, the wrinkled hag nodded, but Asger shook his head. "I'm not giving this up, I claimed it," he said flatly. "I don't know who you are, miss, but-"br /"You must turn away from the darkness." The woman's hands went limp and Asger snatched the lightsaber back before it could fall to the empty street. Their stopper seemed to have completely forgotten about it, and now looked to the space inbetween Ahsoka and Asger. "The darkness touches youth both," she said mystically. "You must learn to control it, before it controls you, young Jedi."br /Ahsoka squirmed uncomfortably. Were her thoughts of revenge so paramount this whimsy woman could feel it?br /In contrast, Asger seemed to grow bolder. "I don't know what your game is, woman," he said angrily. "But I'm not buying it, whatever you are. You see, I'm no Jedi. In case you didn't notice, they've all been killed." He looked at her with beady eyes. "What are you?"br /"A member of the Church of the Force," the crone murmured, her cloth swishing around her. "Neither Jedi nor Sith. A follower of the simplest form of the energy around us..." Her gaze snapped up to them. "Do not tread the dark path," she croaked. "Heed my warning, before your worst fears are realized!"br /"I fear nothing," Asger sneered. "Come on, Ahsoka, let's go." He grabbed her by the wrist, not waiting for her response and physically dragged her away from the sitting woman, who watched them leave with a pitiful expression./div  
div class="round8 bubbledRight" style="max-height: 999999px; border-radius: 8px; margin-top: 5px; clear: both; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #cdcdcd; overflow: auto; background-color: #e1ffa1; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span class="gray" style="max-height: 999999px; color: #686868; float: right;" data-xutime="1486083179"Feb 2/spanWhen they rounded the street corner, the young Tortugan wrenched herself out of his grip. "What's the matter with you!" she protested. "I felt there was something really important going on back there!"br /"She was half out of her mind," Asger scoffed. "What are you talking about? I was waiting for her to say, 'If you want more advice, pay now!' Just some stupid fortune teller."br /"She knew you had Master Windu's lightsaber," Ahsoka pointed /Asger shrugged. "She didn't say it was the saber, did she? Just something I shouldn't have; for all she kows, she could have thought I had lifted some poor man's credit chits."br /She opened her mouth, but Asger's hard gaze silenced her. "Let's just get back to the ship," she /"Wait, if you want to go back we will," he protested, his face going with concern now. He seemed to realize he had been a bit too forceful, and was trying to recover his position. However, she just waved him off. She looked forlornly back at the way she'd come, but something tell her that the moment had passed, and it was too /They arrived back at their ship with no more incidents. Asger knocked their secret passcode on the ship's hull to let Arty know they'd returned, and it was really them. There was a muffled whistle, then the ramp lowered. Before she could begin to walk inside, however, Asger grabbed her by the shoulder. Not forcefully, but just enough to stop /He seemed to be having some sort of internal conflict. He didn't meet her eyes, instead looking up at the millions of lights distantly seem above them. "I... uh, thanks for coming with me," he said stiffly. "I know this isn't really, y'know, the best of times for you- us... yeah..."br /Asger's arm, which seemed to have been reaching round to hug her, swung in front of him awkwardly with the fist closed. "Uh... yeah. Let's go back inside-?"br /She didn't know what made her do it, but suddenly she pushed his arm out of the way, closed the gap between them, and kissed him. Not long or deep, but just a quick thing on the lips. And yet, it seemed to last longer than her entire time training as a child and the Clone Wars /Ahsoka pulled away first, slightly breathless. Asger looked at her blankly, his arm hanging suspended in the air. "Well... okay," he said somewhat /"Yeah," she said with equal awkwardness. The silence was broken by chuffing laughter; they both turned to see the drunk Gotal watchman looking and /"Let's just get inside," Asger said quickly, climbing up the ramp faster than she had ever seen him move. She followed with all due haste, finding him in the cockpit with his smooth hands over his /She sat down in the pilot seat. "You okay?"br /Asger turned to her, and to her surprise he just laughed. "Yeah, I'm fantastic," he said, truly looking like he meant it. "I don't think I've felt this happy since Hoffner first gave me a job."br /Unable to resist she laughed back. A dry whistle sounded in between them; the squat red and black astromech warbled a suspicious /Asger forced himself to stop. "We're okay, Arty," he choked. "Did you find anything?"br /Still suspicious, the droid gave a noncommittal beep, then plugged himself into the main computer. The screen flickered to life, and they both calmed down enough to read what it /Quickly, the previous feeling of bliss and joy faded, replaced by a numbing feel, like she had been dipped in an icy lake. The Confederacy had surrendered, its leadership mysteriously killed. The Chancellor had dissolved the Republic- the Republic!- and declared the birth of the Galactic Empire, with himself at its head as Emperor. The Jedi had plotted to destroy him and the government, so he had in turn ordered their execution for treason with any survivors to be killed as well. The interdiction over Coruscant was over, with the need for security over and the Emperor declaring he would have a new leader for the military in this new era of peace. Senator Padme Amidala was mysteriously dead...br /The news wrenched her heart, and she felt a strange sense of the guilt for the happiness she had just experienced. She knew it was lies, it had to be. And yet, Arty's discovery was like a hammer breaking the last fragment of hope she had had. That it had just been some sick joke, and she and Asger would somehow be able to live peacefully... together...br /"That's it then," Asger whispered. "Just like that, the wars over and the Republic is gone. The Jedi are gone. I... I can't believe it."br /"We should have believed it when we got into the Temple," she said dully. She waited for the pain and sorrow to swamp her again, but this time it didn't come. Not even the dark anger she had previously felt was there. Instead, a steely resolve was building up inside her. She would not only get revenge... she would get /Asger touched her shoulder. "You alright?" he asked /"Definitely," she said confidently, flicking the engines on. "Time we get back to doing what we do best. Cause trouble for our wonderful government."br /A smile cracked through his features. "Understood, Captain." He turned to his own controls, signaling to the Gotal below they were clearing off. "Where are we going?"br /She looked above as they rose, past the artificial city lights to where, just barely, she saw the pure light of a star. "To wherever the Force takes us."/div  
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div class="round8 bubbledRight" style="max-height: 999999px; border-radius: 8px; margin-top: 5px; clear: both; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #cdcdcd; overflow: auto;"Arty prepped the ship, coaxing the engines to life. Ahsoka grasped the controls with fierce determination. They would make things right, in their own way, one little bit at a time. 'The Jedi will never be forgotten,' she thought /"Take us off, Captain," Asger said jokingly. The ship lifted off the platform; she saw the drunken Gotal waving good-naturedly up at them, which made her /The ship rolled forward, seeking to go past the city lanes and instead shoot for the atmosphere. They had no trouble with Coruscant Air Security this time. They were apparently overwhelmed with requests to land and take off, and could not be bothered to ask for the proper /She shut the comm, and Asger shook his head in wonder. "Ever hear a droid sound that stressed?"br /Ahsoka thought of Threepio, and despite the pang of worry she felt for the golden droid she smiled. "Yeah, I knew one. Funny golden droid, you would have liked him."br /The atmosphere faded away, giving a crisp blackness that surrounded them entirely, save for the distant twinkling stars. Ships were coming to and fro the planet in a maddening rush indeed. She noticed that a number of ARC-fighters were clearing a large piece of space of ships. A small freighter was putting its engines to max, trying to get out of the /"Where to?" Asger asked, bring her back to the matter at hand. "Nar Shaddaa? Tatooine? Plenty of good jobs there, what with the government change. Lot of planets will panic; change does that, good or bad."br /"Yeah. I suppose Nar Shaddaa would be a good-"br /Arty's frantic warbling interrupted her. He was still plugged into the standby comm. "What, Arty? Slow down, slow down-"br /"Watch out!" Asger snapped, yanking the controls to a hard left. She gasped as the ship lurched, narrowly avoiding a trio of the ARC /"What the blazes are you doing-?"br /"They're coming into some sort of escort formation," he said, his voice going weird. She could feel it to, now. Something bad was coming...br /The astromech gave another warning beep, but this time she was ready. She moved the ship forward, avoiding another trio of ARC fighters-br /As five Venator-cruisers appeared out of hyperspace. It took her only one look at the hulls to know who it was. Admiral Yularen's armada, appearing loud and proud from the victory at /"I think going to Nar Shaddaa would be a good idea right about now," Asger mumbled, paling at the site of the massive ships suddenly filling their /"I agree," she said grimly. "Get the charts organized-"br /Arty beeped again: they were being hailed. Fighting a dryness in her mouth, she turned the comm back on, but not before giving Asger a beseeching look to hurry. "Uh... yes?"br /"Unidentified transport, we're going to request you power down for a moment," the voice of a clone controller came from the other end. "Your ship matches the identification of an undesirable that recently evaded Repub- Imperial detainment."br /"Uh, we don't know of anything to do with that," she /A pause. "Nevertheless, protocol requests you allow us to inspect and identify you and your ship. We will begin activating a tractor beam to pull you safely into our hangar-"br /"Can I speak to the Admiral, please?"br /A pause, much longer. She saw Asger looking at her in disbelief, but she only hissed, "Aren't you done yet?"br /"I'm trying! We had to wipe the ship log in case they checked it, remember?"br /"This is Admiral Yularen," the familiar, official sounding voice came over the speaker. "Unidentified transport, you have a question with the current situation?"br /"Not at all," she said, trying to sound impatient; it wasn't hard. "We're just running a tight schedule, and really can't be bothered with this interrogation!"br /"I would hardly call it that-"br /"But we are! How are we supposed to make our delivery on time if we keep getting detained by the Republic? This must be the fifth time we've been accused of being a 'suspected' ship, and each time it's just been errors! Now how about we save each other some time, and just move on with our damned work."br /"You have a large mouth for a civilian," the other replied curtly. "So be it; take our generosity this one time. Remember this as an example of the New Order."br /She cut the comm before him, then let go of the breath she had been holding. "Yularen isn't so quick on his feet," she explained to the blank-faced Asger. "If I had talked to the controller, he would have briefed the Admiral and told him the story, and he probably would have seen through it. As it is, we fooled him now, and that means we're free."br /"Wish you could have said," he mumbled, flexing his arms. "I got our jump point, let's-"br /The comm came to life on its own. "Unidentified ship, you will power down immediately," Yularen's voice came briskly over the line. "You match the records of Coruscant air Security about a ship that recently evaded arrest. You will submit yourself to our tractor beams, business schedule or not."br /"Or, they can just do that- Arty, get us out of here!"/div  
div class="round8 bubbledRight" style="max-height: 999999px; border-radius: 8px; margin-top: 5px; clear: both; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #cdcdcd; overflow: auto;"span class="gray" style="max-height: 999999px; color: #686868; float: right;" data-xutime="1486679524"Feb 9/spanThe droid gave a high-pitched whistle; the tractor beam was beginning to lock onto them. With little option, she stopped the hyperdrive and threw all power to the sublight engines. The tractor beam's grip slipped off them at the sudden burst, but she knew it would track and catch them in a few /"ARC fighters are coming off our side," Asger /"Oh this is just wonderful," she growled. "Take the guns and shoot anything between us and freedom." She dived the ship into the group of freighters that had been pushed aside to make room for the Venators. They scrambled out of the way as the ARC fighters chased after them, blaster cannons /Asger slammed his palm down on the one rear-firing missile, often used as a scare tactic. It launched, and the fighters moved out of the way jerkily, not expecting a projectile. Two slammed into each other and the wreckage sprayed against the side of a large prison /A barge that looked like a very nice thing to have between them and Yularen's tractor beams. She angled the ship to twist around while Asger's red blasts pelted towards the blue-firing /Their astromech gave a status update in a harrowed beep: engines were dropping quickly. "Prep the jump," she commanded. "Divert all power from the cannons to shields, we need as much time as possible for the hyperdrive to recalibrate."br /The ARCs dived in and around them, one of them being too fast and slamming again into the side of the barge. It was beginning to move sluggishly out of the /"Almost done," Asger said breathlessly. She looked at the main monitor; shields were down to twenty percent-br /The boom of the turbolaser blasts from the Venators shocked her enough that she didn't respond in time, not expecting the cruisers to fire on other civilian ships. The high-powered blasts struck the barge, cracking it open like an egg and scattering its contents like the yolk. The debris struck their weakened craft, sending it spinning uncontrollably. The lights around them sparked and died, the control board flashed with blue tendrils of electricity-br /A stray turbolaser bolt struck the ship, vaporizing the engines and leaving them dead in /Asger fumbled with the glove compartment underneath the control board, waving steam from his face. "Put this on!" he shouted above the alarms, shoving a gas mask into her hands. She strapped it on as gases began to flood the /The ARC fighters were pulling back to the Venators, but she knew it was only to make sure the tractor beams had a clear shot. But that meant for the moment they weren't being pursued, and the tractor beams had to wait for the wreckage of the barge to clear out the /They both stumbled over to the twin escape pods, each large enough for one of them. At the dock, they looked at each other, unsure of what to say in such a drastic turn of /Arty beeped vigorously, bouncing on his wheels. "I'll see you down on the planet," she /"Yeah." He leaned forward unexpectedly, to kiss her no doubt, but he instead only managed to bump their gas masks painfully against each other. She stumbled backward and tripped into her pod. "Sorry!" he said, and she heard him face palming as he got into /Shaking her large Tortugan head, she closed the hatch as Arty clambered in into Asger's cramped pod. The hatch sealed, she prepped the controls, and then she was away, floating away. Her fingers punched the keypad again, and the engines flared into life, propelling her to the surface with a screen of the other panicked /Asger's pod was a little behind hers; she could just make out him and Arty inside the fogged /The freighters were beginning to thin out, most having already swarmed down to the planet by now and being much faster than their feeble pod's engines. But they were going to be back in the atmosphere soon-br /BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. She whirled around, fear grasping her head with its chilly fingers. The blue turbolaser bolts lashed out again, exploding two more civilain craft; Yularen's personal Venator had detached from the other four and was pursuing them, tractor beams desperately trying to clutch them in its invisible /Or maybe just to shoot them out the sky. She pushed the engines to max, beyond what they should normally do, and the pod screeched in protest. A third transport blew up, closer to her. Just a little further until they reached the atmosphere-br /Yularen fired a barrage of missiles from the cruiser, and this time they all hit a cluster of five trading vessels that Asger had been keeping pace with. She watched with horror as four of them exploded outright, while the fifth went spinning and physically collided with Asger's /The engines sputtered, then /"NO!" she screamed, trying to reverse her own engines to try and get back to him, suddenly no longer caring about reaching the /But he was growing more distant. The pull of the atmosphere had her now, and the pod's weak engines could no resist. She slapped a hand against the glass, screaming, crying, cursing the pod, trying to make the inanimate thing turn around and go back for Asger and Arty-br /It didn't. She watched as they disappeared before her eyes as the pod passed through Coruscant's atmosphere. Not sure what to do with herself, she slumped on the floor of the escape pod, half wanting it to crash on /Her pod came to a peaceful landing as the ground control grabbed the pod in its emergency tractor beams and lowered it to a secure pad. Ahsoka remained unmoving until the security forces forced open the door to the pod, shouting that she was alive into their comms, saying she was in shock and to stay calm and that it would be alright, medics would be on the /What happened? What had happened up there? She couldn't tell if it was them asking, or she was asking herself, she felt so utterly /The Empire. The Empire is what had happened. The Republic wouldn't have fired on civilian transports. Yularen wouldn't have dared. It was like the government transitioned had changed their emotions as /They were carting her off in an emergency speeder, leaving the dented pod behind and the starry sky away. She couldn't let it end here. Asger wouldn't have wanted that, would he?br /Her lightsabers sprung into her hands, startling the medics. "Jedi- Jedi!"br /She knocked them both in the head with the hilts of the lightsabers, stunning them. She slashed open the back doors of the medical speeder, exposing the Coruscant nightly traffic. Without a second thought, she jumped from the speeder, eyes closed, letting the Force take her to where it /XXXbr /"Where do you need passage to, miss...?"br /"Ashla."br /"Right. Well?"br /"Nar Shaddaa. I hear you take people there?"br /The captain rubbed the stubble on his chin, and she experienced deja vu, remembering her first encounter with Hoffner and his crew. "I might. I could use some convincing, though-?"br /She waved her hand, the Force flowing confidently through her. "You will give me passage to Nar Shaddaa."br /"Yeah, yeah, we're going," the other grumbled, oblivious. "Get on board."br /She took one last look at the empty port. No Asger. No Arty. No Anikan. No Rex. Alone /She would not mourn, however. Ahsoka Tano would get even./div  
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